Aims

This course has been designed with the specific needs that many MML students have in relation to writing essays. However, it is not a 'remedial' course; all students should be stretched by this material, even (and sometimes especially) the brightest.

One of the key ideas which has informed the design of the course is that students will learn to become better writers through being better readers, i.e. that by learning to evaluate texts critically, they will be more self-critical of their own work. So the course uses a range of writing samples, taken from real undergraduate essays, which students are encouraged to read critically. Most parts of the course move from (a) the theory, to (b) exercises in which students read samples and evaluate them, and finally to (c) opportunities for students to reflect on their own work, or to practise writing, in the light of what they have learned.

You (or the students) may not agree with every point! The different perspectives which have emerged when I have taught these seminars make them very interesting. I have found it more useful to allow space for this debate than to press any particular point, as to my mind probably the most important benefit of this course is simply to create opportunities for students to reflect on the practice of writing outside of a normal supervision context.